Ai,'P- "f::. ' < ';;.{ l :44 "."' <";' I ;;"-'f. .. ' "r;: ,;i;.:':;, u "". ." .u"=i..., '<.^.:.. . ( {.t: : "';/: Ii "",0/, '.. ii', 'f{ ,' . " ... . :r ,. j .,...,' ' .. "V,,;, i' ". ". " : ! . .: ' .' ": : :"J , j , , " . . f , : , : , , ' , :" , ;' "i ;, ...1 . . 4. 1f " , " : , ;.:. , , ": '" ': ""'\1 ::;: ",1i' ' . '... . 'j '{J{ I' , i ... \; ''" . .. , ..' , JI , ' Y / '}/ , '" ': " "u. h u. 'w ": " . A , ^ , _- " ' J ; , !.l i r '. ò " ;;1; · . , .,' ,jy, ,.. u,", ': :". <:, ':::" ' .: , : : ; " ' , , , . , ' i: 'IiI' ' ;-" , ..:. t .,. ':'-," .' U ".a.. <> .. : ..: :... I'.. shapes the routine; coaches know that they will be blamed if the squad loses, so they log countless hours and resist inno- vation. Before games, the Chinese men's team warms up by conducting the same rudimentary ballhandling drills that I watched the third-grade girls perform in Shanghai. In the summer of 2002, Chinese authorities refused Wang's request and ordered him to return, but he stayed in the United States anyway. Dallas did not offer him a contract, reportedly in part because they did not want to ruin the good relationship that they had developed with the Chinese. In October, Wang signed a three-year six-million-dollar contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. Since then, Clip- pers games have been banned from Chinese television (N.B.A. broadcasts often draw as many as fourteen million viewers in China). The ban has turned Wang into a marketing liability-one N.B.A. general manager told me that teams are wary of signing him in the future. Wang, whose military passport has expired, reportedly received a green card last season. Over the summer, he tried to negotiate a return to China, asking for a new civilian passport and a guarantee ,úr . K ' i' : t .. I ' j i'0 ..' , :( .;. . . : 0( . '- . . -, <. -=: -." :::.:. :-;i :(f ":: ... .;:. t<!I that he could come back to the N.B.A. after the Asian Championship. The chain of communication had grown so complicated that Wang relied heavily on a Chinese sportswriter named Su Qyn to contact L.A.leaders and basketball officials. "I know that as a journalist I should stay out of this," Su, who writes for Beijing's Titan Sports Daily, told me. "But I happen to be close to Wang. We have to save him, like saving Private R " yan. Wang, who declined my request for an interview, did not return to China. I spoke about him with Li Yuanwei, the secretary-general of the Chinese Bas- ketball Association. "Wang has placed too much emphasis on his personal wel- fare," Li said. "I assured him that there is no risk. The L.A. also assured him. But he doesn't believe us, and he keeps demanding conditions that are not nec- I ' d " essa.fJ t s very sa . Wang's problems formed a troubling backdrop to Yao Ming's move to the N.B .A. last year. Yao promised to fulfill his national-team commitments dur- ing the off-season, and he reportedly will pay the C.B.A. five to eight per cent of his N.B.A. salary for his entire career. He also will pay the Shanghai Sharks, his C.B.A. team, a buyout that , "." >>.'iI: ... V-::,^,.:" ." ....: ;. ..;.... :...) ,.-. -,.-. -..., -. .. .'...Jo:. .-_;-- --_ " "1'" . Ð;- ' " "j', , "Our parent company wants us to be in bed by ten. " 8' is estimated to be between eight mil- lion and fifteen million dollars, depend- ing on his endorsements and the length of his career. Yao's four-year contract with the Rockets is worth $17.8 mil- lion, and already his endorsement in- come is higher than his sala.fJ But even Yao's sponsorship poten- tial has been threatened by the irreg- ularities of Chinàs sports industty In Ma Coca-Cola issued a special can in Shanghai decorated with the images of three national-team players, including that of Yao, who already had a contract with Pepsi. The basketball association had sold Yao's image to Coca-Cola with- out his permission, taking advantage of an obscure sports-commission regula- tion that grants the state the right to all "intangible assets" of a national-team player. The regulation appeared to be in direct conflict with Chinese civilla Yao filed suit against Coca-Cola in Shang- hai, demanding a public apology and one yuan--about twelve cents. The Clunese press interpreted the lawsuit as a direct challenge to the nation's traditional con- trol of athletes. When I spoke with Li Yuanwei, of the basketball association, he empha- sized that Coca-Cola was an important source of funding, and he hoped that the company and Yao would reach an agreement out of court. Li told me that Americans have difficulty understanding the duties of an athlete in China, where the state provides support from child- hood. I asked if the same logic could be applied to a public-school student who attends Peking University, starts a busi- ness, and becomes a millionaire. "It's not the same," Li said. "Being an athlete is a kind of mission. They have an enor- mous impact on the ideas of the com- mon people and children. That's their responsibilit:)T." Before I travelled to Harbin, in northeastern China, to attend the Asian Championship, I talked with Yang Loon, a law professor at People's Uni- versity in Beijing. Yang was preparing a seminar on the Coca-Cola case. "Con- tact with American society probably gave Yao some new ideas," Yang told me. "It's like DengXiaoping said--some people will get wealthy first. Develop- ment isn't equal, and in a sense rights also aren't equal. Of course, they are equal under law, but one person might